RICHLAND, Wash. – Cooking at home like a professional chef doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive.
Chef John Miller, executive chef of Kadlec, joined the Wake Up crew from Kadlec’s Healthplex in Richland to give some tips and tricks on how to make quick, easy, delicious, and healthy food from home.
The recipe from today featured a spring salad and seared salmon.
For the salad, grabbing a vinaigrette from the grocery store might seem like the easiest option, but making one from scratch is way easier than it seems.
An emulsifier (garlic, mustard, tomato paste) with an acid (vinegar, lemon juice) and a fat (oil) with some quick mixing binds the ingredients together into a delicious vinaigrette.
Chef Miller used lemon juice and zest, lime juice and zest, Dijon mustard, garlic, black pepper, and salt in his vinaigrette, and topped arugula with red bell peppers, toasted almonds, sumo orange, strawberry, and avocado slices.
For the salmon, Chef Miller noted three key factors: pre-heating the pan, not overcrowding the pan, and using the correct oil.
pre-heating the pan to medium-low is great for fish, and once the meat starts to turn white on the pan-side, you can flip to finish cooking.
Using a pan that’s big enough to cook all of the proteins you’re cooking is key.
A high smoke-point oil, like avocado, canola, peanut, or sunflower oil for proteins is necessary to make sure you can sear the meat without filling your entire house/apartment with smoke. It also ensures the fat doesn’t burn, which is more likely with low smoke-point oils like olive oil.
Chef Miller noted that making food from scratch is almost always healthier than buying pre-made items, and that one great thing about living in the Tri-Cities is how much quality produce, fruit, and veggies can be found.
